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77th out of 280 books
—
335 voters
Passing for normal: Tourette's, OCD and growing up crazy
by
Amy Wilensky
A gripping memoir of a young girl’s struggle with Tourette’s syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
It began the summer Amy was eight years old. A pretty, high-achieving young girl, she watched in horror as her body began to twitch and jerk. Soon these explosive tics were joined by baffling rituals that dominated her life. Amy’s fears and compulsions ranged from terro...more
It began the summer Amy was eight years old. A pretty, high-achieving young girl, she watched in horror as her body began to twitch and jerk. Soon these explosive tics were joined by baffling rituals that dominated her life. Amy’s fears and compulsions ranged from terro...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
2006
by Pocket Books
(first published 1999)
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This was an amazing non-fiction piece by someone who lives with Tourette's Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The reason I chose to read it was because I wanted to read about a female's experience living with OCD. It turns out that the parallels are amazing between the writer and myself. It was encouraging to read that I'm not the only one I know who obsesses over the silliest things or has to do one thing over and over until I am satisfied with it. I highly recommend this book to anyon...more
Amy did an excellent job of describing the symptoms and difficulties of Tourette's and OCD from an insider's perspective. It was odd because sometimes, I really felt connected with Amy as a person, and other times, I felt like she was lecturing me on technical things. I guess...it just didn't really seem to flow.
It's not a book I will buy, or ever read again, but I am glad I read it.
One more thing, I read another book by Amy Wilensky, another memior. It's called "The Weight of It" and it's about...more
It's not a book I will buy, or ever read again, but I am glad I read it.
One more thing, I read another book by Amy Wilensky, another memior. It's called "The Weight of It" and it's about...more
This book was a gift from my favorite neuroscience major and is the autobiography of Amy Wilensky . She first had symptoms of Tourette' s syndrome and then OCD at age 11 and was not diagnosed until in her early 20's . Apropos to the title , her story is about this genetic disease and her efforts to pass for normal but having no idea what was causing her tics and OCD . And rather than being supported by her family , her symptoms became the source of a schism with her dad, targets for her peers as...more
This is an interesting but flawed memoir of one woman's experiences with OCD and Tourette's Syndrome. The stuff directly relating to her experiences with these poorly-understood disorders is excellent and well-written. The memoir suffers overall, though, from a lack of organization in speaking about her personal relationships, particularly with her husband, Ben. I was extremely confused about their relationship; she would go from mentioning their honeymoon in one paragraph, to talking about him...more
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This was a very good book, though hard to read at moments. I related so strongly to so much of it, I fought hard not to cry a lot of the time. I would give it 5 stars except I couldn't understand why she didn't divorce her husband and ditch her 'best friend', because they were disgusting about her conditions.
Woman with OCD - obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourettes. I see some OCD in my father and my tendancies as a child which I conscientiously threw off in late adolescence. My friend Kathleen Colucci -Russell and I discussed how OCD is probably involved in compulsive overeating. Can't they give me a drug too?!
A story of Amy who as a child had started to have Tourette’s syndrome and OCD, not knowing for years what is wrong with her, trying to hide herself and being made fun by peers and her well meaning father. The story concentrates on her struggle to live with these disorders and not much about her personal life and relationship is told what is fine by me.
Out of the three books I finished over Spring Break 2010 this was the best one but it wasn't even that great.
Everyone is always talking about how they have OCD and they're lying. But not Amy Wilensky. She has that shit for real.
Everyone is always talking about how they have OCD and they're lying. But not Amy Wilensky. She has that shit for real.
In relation to the other memoirs I've read lately, this one was pretty interesting. Don't recommend if you are a hypochondirac/self diagnoser...she does a good job of throwing out "clues" to being OCD. It was fast paced and not overly clinical, which I appreciated.
I loved this book...what a courageous story of a woman learning to live life with disabilities that would sideline most people
If you're at all interested in OCD or Tourette's (the real thing not what tv shows it to be for ratings), please read this book. It was a very good read for myself since my husband has Tourette's and a less mild form of OCD than the author. It was interesting for me to see the similarities in how long it took to get a diagnosis, how long to consider treatment, what options were, etc. Very interesting and moving read. For me, it was probably much more of a clinical rather than emotional read, tho...more
Tells what it's like to live with Tourettes. Funny and thoughtful.
I chose this book because I am in the same boat. I also have TS and OCD (and some other fun stuff thrown in the mix). So I'm glad somebody wrote this book. Sometimes I related to her; sometimes I didn't. That's life. I love it that she put herself out there. It's something that's not easy to describe.
A very interesting story about trying to live with Tourettes/OCD. The writer was not diagnosed until adulthood and worked out her own strategies for getting through life. Quite amazing really, she must be made of strong stuff! Inspiring.
After reading this, I don't think I have OCD :)
May 18, 2013
Kelly Watson
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Brazos08
marked it as to-read
May 12, 2013
Legato Darksummers
added it
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